Season 7 Finale: The correct Edition
by c00kiefic
Summary: A new version of the season 7 finale with a happy ending.


Season 7 finale: The correct edition.

A new happy ending to season 7 where Kelso wasn't at the hotel and Hyde got the chance to propose. Rated T for nakedness but no actual sex.

I haven't watched the season finale of season 7 since it aired, and there isn't a transcript for it, so I'm going by the synopsis. So, if I'm wrong about any details, well, sorry. I just needed to write something fluffy and romantic.

I'm a poor college student. I own a lot of books, but not any shows about kids who grew up in the 70's.

Reviews are like chocolate, they're delicous and I can't get enough.

* * *

"Have a nice trip." He said to her, thoroughly convinced she would be back tomorrow. She gave him a tight smile and waked out of the basement.

'Have a nice trip?' He thought to himself. Oh well, it wasn't like she wasn't going to return.

That night, he expected her to call before she went to bed like she usually did, but the phone never rang. She was probably still mad at him for calling her bluff. He thought briefly about calling her but that would have been giving in. He even picked up the receiver a couple times with the intention of dialing her number, but his pride would stop him.

He'd see her tomorrow. He got up from his spot on the couch and went to his room.

* * *

"Thanks for driving me to the bus station, Michael." Jackie leaned over to hug her ex boyfriend who had generously driven her to the bus station.

"You're welcome Jackie, so what do you say we do it once more for the road?" He winked at her.

She pushed him, knowing he was teasing. "Don't ever change." She laughed and got out of his corvette. "I'll call you when I get there." She promised.

He waved goodbye to her and drove off. She headed to the ticket counter with her bags.

"I need a ticket to Chicago please." She told the cashier.

"That'll be 30 dollars, bus leaves in half an hour."

She paid for the ticket and went and sat down. The bus station was filled with dirty hippies and degenerates. They reminded her of Leo, which reminded her of Steven.

But she wasn't going to think about him. She had given him one more chance to answer her proposal, and he had blown her off. Well, if that's what he thought of their relationship, he could stuff it. She would go to Chicago, become a famous TV personality, meet a guy who was nothing like Steven, someone who wasn't afraid to say I love you or give her presents. They would get married and have two children, a boy and girl.

And Steven could stuff it.

Jackie laughed to herself as she got on her bus. Vindictive thoughts were so much better than sad ones.

So why was her heart breaking?

* * *

Hyde was trying to pretend he wasn't worried, or that he was secretly looking at his watch to see what time it was. Every time the door opened, he would look up to see who it was. When he heard footsteps coming down the stairs, he nearly jumped in his seat.

"Dude, what's with you?" Eric came up as Hyde jumped up.

"I thought I saw a spider." Hyde lied.

Eric looked at him strangely but didn't say anything. "So have you heard from Jackie, yet?" he asked, opening the cooler to get a Popsicle.

"Why would I care about where Jackie is?" Hyde asked hastily

Eric held up his hands. "I'm just asking, calm down."

Hyde looked up as Donna entered. She sat next to her boyfriend and gave him a kiss. "I'm really going to miss you." She told him.

"I'm going to miss you too." Eric responded, "But it's just for a year, and I'll call once a week and will write you every day."

Hyde watched as Donna and Eric stared into each other's eyes. They had always been better at this romantic non sense than he and Jackie were, though it wasn't for lack of trying on Jackie's part. She was always trying to get him to do romantic stuff with her.

Like tricking him into marrying her.

* * *

After checking into her room at the hotel, Jackie called her boss at the station. They had talked and he told her to come in at nine in the morning. Feeling homesick, she called her best friend Donna.

"Hello?" a sleepy Donna answered the phone.

"Donna?" Jackie tried to sound perky.

"Oh hey, Jackie."

"I'm in Chicago now."

"Oh. Um, hey Jackie, can you call back later? It's really early." Jackie looked at her clock to see it was only 7 am.

"Uh, yeah, sorry, I'll call back later, and try not to wear plaid today."

"Bye, Jackie." Donna hung up the phone.

Two hours later, Jackie called Donna again, this time, Donna was ready.

"Hi Jackie." She answered the phone.

"Hi, Donna."

"How is Chicago?" Donna asked as she sat down.

'I'm lonely and homesick and I want to come home' "It's great! I have a meeting with my producer tomorrow morning."

"That's great, Jackie."

"So, Donna, what are you wearing today?"

Donna looked down at herself. "Jeans and a flannel shirt."

"Ugh, Donna, when are you going to branch out? It wouldn't kill you to wear a dress." Jackie criticized.

Donna rolled her eyes. "It might, look, I need to go, me and Eric are spending his last day together."

"Oh, okay. Sorry."

"No, it's okay, Jackie. I'm happy you got to Chicago alright."

"Bye, Donna."

"Bye, Jackie."

Jackie hung up the phone for a few seconds and then instantly picked it back up.

"What is it Jackie?"

"I just wanted to say that I'm going to miss you."

Donna's tone instantly softened. "I'm going to miss you too."

They talked for a few more minutes, Jackie wanted to ask about Steven but couldn't.

"He misses you." Donna told her, sensing Jackie's pain.

"Thanks Donna, but you don't have to lie to me. I'll talk to you later, go be with that scrawny dweeb you love."

Jackie hung up the phone. She looked down at her list of people she needed to call, and started to dial the number.

"Hi, Mrs. Forman!"

"Oh hello dear! How are you?" Kitty's voice was comforting to Jackie's ears.

"I'm alright, can I speak to Eric?"

"Sure thing, let me get him."

A few minutes later, Eric answered the phone.

"Hi Eric." Jackie said to him.

"Uh, hello." Eric sounded confused to why Jackie why would want to talk to him.

"Listen, Eric, I know we haven't gotten along all that well, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to miss you while you're in Africa."

"Jackie? Do you have a gun to your head?"

Jackie laughed. "No silly, I just wanted to let you know that you're really special."

"Jackie, if you're in trouble, say light saber." Eric was starting to be concerned.

"Eric, is Mr. Forman there? I want to talk to him."

"You want to talk to who?"

"I want to tell him that I love him."

"You love who? You didn't part on the best of terms you know. Oh okay." Jackie could hear Eric yell for Red on the other end.

* * *

Hyde woke up that morning feeling as though he had made a mistake, or that something was off. He couldn't quite place it, but it felt like something was missing. It was the same feeling he had when Leo had skipped town, the same feeling when his dad left.

He came out of his room to find Kelso and Eric talking.

"So I asked her if we could do it one more time and she just brushed me off! Can you believe her?"

Eric laughed and shook his head.

"What are you guys talking about?" Hyde asked as he sat down. "Another one of your conquests, Kelso?"

Kelso laughed. "No man, I'm talking about Jackie!"

"Wait, you've talked to Jackie?"

"Right before I dropped her off at the bus station!"

Hyde did his best to mask his surprise. She had actually left? That wasn't the way it was supposed to go. She was supposed to come in and he would laugh at her, and then they would make up the best way he knew how. She wasn't actually supposed to just leave.

Donna looked over at him. "She's called me three times already, two times were to say she hated my outfit."

The phone rang again. Hyde listened as Eric talked.

"Do you have a gun to your head?" Eric asked. Hyde looked over at Donna and Kelso who looked just as confused.

"Seriously, if you're in trouble, say light saber." They all rolled their eyes at Eric.

"Wait, you want to talk to who?"

"You want to tell who you love them?"

"You know, you didn't part on the best of terms." Hyde perked up, she wanted to talk to him. Everything was going to be okay.

Eric put his hand on the receiver. "RED! Phone!"

Hyde's heart dropped. She didn't want to talk to him. He saw Donna look at him sympathetically.

He had to get out of there. He grabbed his keys off the table and left to go to Grooves.

* * *

Jackie was running out of people to call. She'd talked to Bob, to Red, to Kitty again, she even talked to Fez even though he mostly spoke about candy, or at least, she thought he was talking about candy, it was hard to say.

The only person on her list was Hyde, and she just couldn't bring herself to call him. Besides, he had made it clear that their relationship was over.

Have a nice trip. Who says that to someone they love? No, their relationship was over.

Jackie collapsed on her bed, trying to hold back the tears that were trying to force themselves out of her eyes. Her stomach rumbled and Jackie realized she hadn't eaten breakfast. She sat up and wiped her eyes. She grabbed her coat and purse and walked out of her room to find food.

She ended up finding a small diner. She walked in and sat down at the counter.

"Hello doll, can I get you something to drink?" The older waitress asked her, taking out her pad and pencil.

Instantly at hearing the word doll, the flood gates opened and Jackie started bawling. She put her head on the counter and sobbed. The waitress awkwardly patted her back.

"I'll go get you some juice." The woman said before she headed off.

The waitress was back minutes later and Jackie looked up.

"Thank you." Jackie said, sniffling.

"It's fine sweetheart, do you want something to eat?"

Jackie's stomach rumbled again.

"Scrambled eggs and toast please." Jackie told her.

"Chocolate chip pancakes coming right up." The woman smiled at Jackie.

Thirty minutes later, Jackie was eating her pancakes and the waitress was sitting on the other side of the counter listening to Jackie's story.

"So I told him that he was the most important thing in my life and I would stay with him but I need to know we were going to get married. I didn't mean right then, but just someday, maybe. I just wanted him to say he wanted to be with me."

The waitress shook her head in sympathy.

"So I tried to make him see what he was losing if I left. I wrote him a note saying I had left, but you know what he did? Nothing!" She ate more of her pancakes.

"Have a nice trip! That's what he said to me! Not, I love you, not I'll miss you, just have a nice trip!"

"Maybe he didn't think you were leaving." The woman suggested.

"Oh he knew, he knew and he just didn't care."

* * *

Hyde was miserable. He was man enough to admit it to himself. It had only been 15 hours and he had already missed her. God, she had turned him into a pansy who missed their girlfriend.

Well she was gone and he could move on. She clearly didn't care enough about their relationship to stay.

Hyde didn't even want to think about how wrong he was on the above counts. Who cares if she had given him every chance to tell her to stay. She left and that was all there was to it.

He was grateful when Leo came in. Leo would distract him from his thoughts.

"Hyde man, good to see you!"

Hyde smiled at his friend. "Hi Leo."

"Hey, can you tell me where I can find a record store?"

"Leo, you're in a record store."

Leo looked around. "Oh, so I am. Hey, who runs this place man?"

Hyde grinned. "I do."

"Wow! That's so cool man." Leo took another look at Hyde.

"You seem down man."

Hyde blinked. It figures that Leo would see through Hyde's façade.

"No man, I'm fine."

"Why are you so down if you got a record store?" Leo looked around again. "Hey, where's that loud girl who's always hanging around you?

Hyde sighed. "She went to Chicago."

Leo nodded knowingly. "That's why you're so mopey! Loud Girl is in Chicago! You love Loud Girl!

"Yeah, maybe I do." It didn't change anything.

Leo smiled.

Did he have it written on his face?

"But the only reason I'm telling you is because you have no short term memory and will forget this conversation in a few minutes. Hyde smiled at Leo.

"Oh hey man! I just heard some news! Loud Girl is in Chicago!"

Thank god for short term memory loss.

* * *

Jackie entered her hotel room, her stomach was full but she felt no better. The phone glared at her from the table it sat on, beckoning her to call him.

She didn't want to talk to Hyde though. She wanted to forget him, forget the way he smelled, the way his mouth felt, how strong he was. How safe he made her feel, how loved. Her boyfriend was a coward and that's all there was to it.

She looked at her clock. In only an hour, Eric would be leaving for Africa. Jackie put her hand on the phone to call to say goodbye one last time, but stopped herself.

She had to get over this homesickness. She had a new great job, she was attractive, she didn't need him. She was going to move on to bigger and better things. She was going to be famous.

No one ever told her that the price of fame was that you had to lose everything you loved.

* * *

Hyde was beside himself. He needed a circle with the guys and he needed it now.

"Let's have one more circle Forman." He said as he entered the basement. The other three guys grinned and settled into their spots.

"You know, I don't get why I need shots anyway." Eric said. "Yellow fever will give me some color."

Kelso laughed. "Hey, Forman, I'll go with you since I owe you for that time when I threw that dead raccoon at you but it turned out it wasn't dead and we had to get tetanus shots."

Hyde grinned. "Yeah, and on the way to the hospital Kelso jumped out of the car and ended up breaking his arm! That was the funniest, bloodiest day ever."

He looked up just in time to see Red's face glaring at them. "Get upstairs."

He knew Red and Kitty were yelling at them, but he didn't care. The combination of being high and being completely miserable made him apathetic to the Forman's lecture. He stared at the Twinkie on the counter. Jackie loved Twinkies.

Great, now everything was reminding him or her. He had to get out.

"I don't know." He grimaced at his own words. Who said that? When Kelso finally built that time machine, he was going to go back to that moment and say something else. Or maybe he'd go back to when he had cheated on her with that nurse. Hyde laughed at himself.

"Have a nice trip." He shook his head. What did she expect from him anyway? He had told her that he wasn't going to say the right thing when her dad was put in prison. He wasn't good with words, she knew that.

Hyde had enough people run out of his life, he wasn't going to let her just leave without saying goodbye. He was going to go to Chicago and tell her exactly what he thought of her ultimatum, of her leaving without giving him a chance to answer.

After seeing his best friend off, Fez turned to him.

"Hyde, I have one question for you."

Hyde blinked. "What is it, Fez?"

"What the hell are you still doing here? Go get our Jackie back!" Fez ordered.

* * *

The knock at the door nearly made Jackie jump, but she remembered she had just called room service for more towels.

"Come in." She yelled.

The door opened and she turned to thank the maid, but instead of a short Hispanic woman, she found him. He was standing there looking nervous, and she could tell he was trying to get his zen back.

"What are you doing here?" She asked. She didn't really care though, all she wanted to do was jump on him and kiss him until they couldn't breathe.

"I was uh, in the neighborhood." He grimaced at how stupid he sounded.

"I'm glad you did." She admitted.

Hyde looked at the girl standing in front of him. She was in her bathrobe, and he could hear the shower running.

"Are you getting ready to take a shower?" he asked.

She nodded. "I was about to get in."

The robe she was wearing was falling off her shoulder, exposing her skin. Skin he had tasted a million times before, skin he was desperate to touch now.

He was looking at her like he wanted to eat her alive. She knew that look well, it was the same look he gave her when they first started to fool around, the same one he gave her when they got back together, and when they had gotten back together. It was all over his face how much he wanted her.

But she needed more than just lust.

She took a deep breath. "You're just in the neighborhood?"

"Jackie, I came here because I…" he trailed off.

"Did you come here to break up with me?" the words erupted out of her mouth before she could stop them.

His eyes went wide with surprise. "No, I wanted to come here because you left without saying goodbye."

"I said goodbye! I told you I was leaving!" she yelled at him.

"Well I didn't like it!"

"Why not? I thought you said everything you needed to say!"

"You think I wanted my last words to you to be have a nice trip?" he asked incredulously.

"Damn it Jackie, I only said that because I thought you were going to come back!"

Before she could retort, there was another knock at the door.

"Housekeeping!" An accented voice said on the other side of the door.

Hyde turned and opened it, grabbed the towels out of the maid's hands and slammed the door.

"Steven, that was very rude of you." Jackie admonished him.

He held towels in his hands. "Jackie…"

Something in the way he was saying her name made her defenses drop.

"What were you going to say to me?" She asked her voice soft.

Hyde had done a lot of thinking on the drive to Chicago about exactly what he wanted to say to her, but at the moment nothing was coming to him.He took a step closer to her and held out the towels. "Want to take a shower with me?" He asked.

She gave a nod. He closed the distance between them picked her up and carried her to the bathroom.

They stood in front of each other in the shower as the steaming hot water fell on Jackie's head. He held her by her waist to keep her steady on the slippery tub. Hyde grabbed the hotel soap, put it under the water and lathered it up in his hands. He ran the soap down Jackie's body with one hand, the other followed as he trailed the soap downward. They had done this before, and for whatever reason, he always found it easier to talk to her while hot water poured down on them.

"How did you want our goodbye to go?" She finally asked.

He turned her around so he could wash her hair. He put a quarter size drop of shampoo in his hand and started to massage it into her scalp.

"I was going to tell you that I would miss you." He scratched her scalp with his fingers and she moaned. He continued, "That I didn't know if I was ready to get married, but if was between you leaving me and getting married, then we could get married."

"Why?" She asked, her voice hitched.

He turned her around again and put her underneath the shower head to rinse her hair. Her eyes were closed to keep the soap from running into her eyes. Hyde leaned down and gave her a kiss.

"Because you mean the world to me."

Her eyes shot open.

"I do?" She asked, surprised.

He smiled. "I know I don't say it much, but I love you."

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Oh, Steven."

* * *

They laid in the hotel bed with a sheet wrapped around them. She turned to face him.

"When are we going home?" She asked.

"What about your job?" he asked, turning to look at her.

"I realized that while this job is my dream come true, I'd rather be in Point Place with you."

He smiled. "Good, because I was going to kidnap you and bring you home."

She grinned. "We don't have to get married if you don't want. I just want to be with you."

He brushed her hair out of her face. "How about this, we'll talk about it in a year."

"Okay." She agreed before leaning in for another kiss.

He closed his eyes. Yeah, this felt good.

This felt right.


End file.
